"Anonymous" Hackers Target Websites of Orlando, City That Arrests People for Feeding Homeless

In case you missed the news that's been unraveling over the last month, the city of Orlando has arrested more than 20 Food Not Bombs activists for feeding people in public without a permit.

Now, "Anonymous," the hacker collective known for other online attacks including against Visa, MasterCard, and the Church of Scientology, declared "war" on the city in defense of the volunteers. The Mayor of Orlando Buddy Dyer, meanwhile, has called the Food Not Bombs volunteers "food terrorists."Among the volunteers in jail is Keith McHenry, who helped found Food Not Bombs over 30 years ago. Read or watch the Democracy Now! interview with one activist who was arrested, Benjamin Markeson, and the group's attorney, Shayan Elahi.

It had this to say about the grounds for arrest in the first place: "Let us put aside for a moment the clear immorality of a government that illegalizes the act of feeding the homeless. Your freedom has been taken from you."

And concluded: "We will not allow Food Not Bombs volunteers to be silenced. We will fight for their rights, and yours. The hacking will continue. Your city will lose money, time, and resources."